A plasma display panel (PDP) is a flat display device using a plasma phenomenon, which is also called a gas-discharge phenomenon since a discharge is generated in the panel when a potential greater than a certain level is applied to two electrodes separated from each other under a gas atmosphere in a non-vacuum state. Such a gas-discharge phenomenon is applied to display an image in the plasma display panel. At present, a generally used plasma display panel is a reflective alternating current driven plasma display panel. On a rear substrate, phosphor layers are formed in discharge cells compartmentalized by a barrier rib. The above plasma display panel forms its outer shape by positioning a rear substrate and a front substrate (for convenience, referred to as a first substrate and a second substrate, respectively) spaced with a predetermined distance therebetween and substantially parallel with each other like other flat panel display devices such as vacuum fluorescence display (VFD) or a field emission display (FED). The substrates are joined using a binder along their circumferences to form a discharge cell in a vacuum state.
Recent developments in the display industry are spurring work for manufacture of display panels with high resolution. The development of a photo-sensitive composition capable of forming a finely-patterned barrier rib is also gaining the same momentum as a part of the work. A barrier rib for a plasma display panel is generally formed by etching an inorganic material layer, which has already been covered with a protection layer with a predetermined pattern. However, conventional inorganic materials have revealed some limits in forming finely patterned ribs. They do not have good adherence to a protection layer and even cause the protection layer to tear away during the etching, resulting in uneven etching at junctions of the inorganic materials and the protection layer.